Link of Fate
by CybertronDefense
Summary: Some people consider their lives fated to be normal. Others hope for one abnormal thing to break their routines. Natasha, though? She just wanted to be home when fate caught up to her.
1. Meetings Part 1

**So…This is my first story that I'm actually willing to publish. Let it begin, I guess.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Max Steel or any of the characters affiliated with it. I own the idea of my OCs and a laptop.**

* * *

I stared out my small window as the airplane landed. The rock pillars that jutted out from the dirt made me frown slightly. No greenery anywhere in sight save for a few cacti.

A hand placed itself on my shoulder, making me look at my father, who was sitting in the seat next to me. "I'm really sorry we had to do this, Natasha. You don't deserve to –"

"Dad, it's fine," I said shortly. "I didn't have many friends back in Michigan. Why we're now living in an entirely different climate, however…"

He flinched. "It was the job that would pay the most…I might have a degree in Mechanical Engineering, but that doesn't mean that someone as old as me can find a new job easily."

"Hence Copper Canyon?"

"Hence Copper Canyon. I'll be on call 24/7, but I'll get to pick my own schedule, otherwise."

"Tasha, stop bugging your father. This move was what was best for the family!"

I glared at my mother, who was sitting on the outside of the row. "The rest of the family is back in Michigan. They don't live in a desert."

"The way that the company that hired your dad and I lets us schedule will give us –"

"More family time and more money," I cut her off. "You gave me this speech about five times this week."

"Natasha," my mother snapped, her dark brown eyes meeting my extremely pale blue, "stop acting like a spoiled brat. Nothing is going to change just because you want it to."

I didn't speak for the rest of the day, instead going straight to my room after we arrived at our new apartment and unpacking. I only came out for dinner, during which I ate quickly and retreated once more.

* * *

The next morning, knowing that my parents had already signed me up for school, I quickly ate a couple slices of toast, downed a glass of orange juice, and fled the apartment. Once out the door, I slipped on my sunglasses and nearly crashed into the person leaving the apartment across the hall.

"Sorry!" I squeaked, taking a step back before he could run into me.

The guy grinned. "It's fine. I tend to smack into people too, sometimes." He zoned out for a moment, as if he were listening to something far off, before scowling. "You're not helping," he muttered.

"You know," I said, heading towards the elevator, "it's easier to not seem crazy if you only address your inner voices mentally."

He blinked, then nodded. "Thanks for the tip…you new around here?" He jogged to catch up to me and hit the button to call the elevator.

"How'd you guess that?" I raised an eyebrow.

"That apartment's been empty as long as I've been here."

I frowned. "Did you move here recently?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I could have lived here before, but my family had decided to take an extended vacation that cut slightly into the school year."

"Yeah, but…" he trailed off, before dropping his chain of thought. After a few seconds of him zoning out once more, he asked, "So my name's Max McGrath."

"Natasha Pharaoh." I slipped into the now-open elevator and hit the first floor button. Max held the doors open long enough to enter with me.

"Sorry, got to get to school on time, or my mom'll kill me."

I nodded. "Understandable," I replied, my tone clipped.

We stood in the elevator for a few moments, Max zoning out again. Finally, he decided to break the silence. "How are you getting to school, anyway?"

"Walking."

"Oh." The awkward silence reigned again until the doors opened with a 'ding'. "I guess I'll see you at school then?"

I narrowed my eyes, an action that was almost impossible to see through my sunglasses. "At some point today, considering there is only one high school in Copper Canyon? Most likely." I walked out of the elevator and began my trek to my new school.

Unbeknownst to me, Max growled, "Bitch."

A blue, digital optic stared out from the unzipped portion for a second before blinking. "I fail to see what female dogs have to do with her, but she was interesting."

* * *

School was…boring to say the least. I had pulled up my black hood before I had entered the building, so no one really noticed me. The teachers were pretty relaxed when it came to wearing hats and hoods indoors compared to the teachers at my old school. However, I was told by the secretary (who I had to see to get my class schedule) that I needed to take off my sunglasses.

It was lunchtime before anyone decided to speak to the 'creepy new kid'. I had glanced up from my book for a moment as I ate before groaning. _Him again…_

Max walked up to my table, flanked by a red-headed boy and a blonde girl. I stared down at my book again. _Please go away, please go away, please go –_

"Hey, Natasha."

 _Damn it._ I looked up again to see Max sitting across from me. After a few moments, I replied, "Hello, Max."

"These are my friends, Kirby and Sydney," Max said, gesturing to the boy (on Max's left) and girl (on my right) respectively. I nodded to each of them, popping more pretzels into my mouth. "Kirby, Sydney, this is Natasha Pharaoh. She moved in across the hall from me over the weekend."

I merely nodded again, finishing my pretzels and opening my carton of chocolate milk.

"So…Tasha, where are you from?" Sydney asked curiously.

In response, I turned my left hand sideways, the palm facing Sydney, and pointed near the tip of my index finger. The other three at the table stared at me, confused. It was Kirby that spoke first. "Dude, what's that supposed to mean?"

I sighed. _Right, not at home._ "In Michigan, the simplest way of telling someone the area where you're from is pointing out the location on your hands. Hence –" I pointed at my hand again.

"But…that doesn't look like Michigan," Sydney said slowly.

"Correction, it doesn't look like the _Lower_ Peninsula of Michigan. I'm from the Upper Peninsula, where we live out in the middle of the woods and only got electricity in the last month." Satisfied with my mini-rant, I started chugging my milk.

Max grinned widely. "You must be going through a huge shock, coming out here and seeing all these buildings, then."

I set down my empty milk carton and began stuffing my trash inside."I play _Starcraft II_ every day for several hours and watch Game Theorists and Netflix," I deadpanned. Before they could process what I had said, I got up from the table, grabbed my book, gray lunch box, and carton of trash, and stalked over to the trash cans. I tossed my carton and slipped through the crowd that was still present at the entrance to the cafeteria.

* * *

{You do realize that she hates your guts, right?}

"She's having a hard time adjusting. If someone's forced to move, they tend to hate everything about the place that they moved to along with their parents."

{And? That doesn't mean you have to be her friend, Max.}

"I know but…the first few times my mom had us move, I hated it. Whenever I got to my new school, I shut everyone out, didn't participate…"

{So you acted like Natasha? …Yeah, I can't see that happening.}

"People change, Steel. I got better at being friendly when I got to a new place. If Tasha's shy, she'll end up clo–"

"Max, who are you talking to?"

"Uh, no one, why?"

{Smoooth.}

* * *

I purposely took a detour on my way back to the apartment from school, not wanting another run-in with Max. As I walked, I found an empty Mountain Dew can, which I kicked as I grumbled to myself.

"Stupid parents…"

CLUNK! Clatter…

"Stupid Nevada…"

CLUNK! Clatter…

"Stupid school…"

CLUNK!

I lifted my eyes from the ground, a scowl set on my face. "What the hell, man?" I growled as my eyes met those of a man in dark clothing…with a pistol in his hand. My scowl turned to fear as I took a few steps back.

He grabbed my arm and dragged me into a nearby alley He pointed his gun at me and cocked it. "Look, give me all your money, and I won't shoot."

"I-I don't carry money with me!"

The mugger pushed the barrel of his pistol against the side of my head. His eyes darted down for a moment before he licked his lips. "Your necklace."

My mind went blank. "What?"

"Give. Me. Your. Necklace."

Slowly, my hands made their way to the clasp at the back of my neck. I skillfully undid the sliver chain that held a sapphire pendant before handing the necklace over. The second it left my hands, the world seemed to gain a blue tint. "There. Happy?"

He glanced down at my hands. "Your watch."

I glared at the man for even suggesting it. One of the few things that my closest friend had given me before I had moved… "No."

The mugger blinked before his face contorted with rage. "What did you say to me, bitch?"

My skin began to generate a blue, misty energy, but I ignored it. "I said NO!" On the last word, I ducked down and elbowed the guy in the center of his upper chest. He took a few steps back, wheezing from the blow to his sternum. Not looking back, I began running as fast as I could away from the mugger. As I ran, more blue energy came of off me, seeming to speed up my movements until I was running passed cars that were going twenty-five miles per hour.

* * *

Little did I know it, but over six thousand miles above me, two organizations were at war, attempting to capture what would appear to most to be a sphere of metal and plastic. Just as a green and white ship was about to snag the sphere from a red and black ship, however, it glowed green and began plummeting to the surface at speeds easily breaking the speed of sound.

"Jefferson to Base, we've lost the objective! It activated and started racing towards Earth!"

"' _Berto, what's the current trajectory?_ "

"It's heading right for Copper Canyon at Mach 3! Wait…it's slowing down. Determining approximate coordinates now."

" _Let's move it, people! We need to be there when the damn thing activates! I don't even need to say what'll happen if we don't contain it!_ "

* * *

I had reached the badlands that surrounded the city, but I still kept running. I just had to get away, had to escape… After running for about three minutes, I came to a stop at the base of one of the many eroded pillars that decorated the landscape. Finally feeling safe, I plopped down and put my head in my hands…only a tingling sensation, like my entire body had become numb. I pulled my head up for a moment to see that my hands were glowing before letting gravity pull my skull over again.

…

Wait, _glowing?_

I did a double take, then a triple take, then a _quadruple_ take, before my brain finally confirmed that, yes, my hands were glowing. I yanked up the sleeve of my black hoodie to see that _all_ my skin was glowing. The glowing intensified as the numbness turned to nothingness. All sensation disappeared as my body took on a vaguely human form composed entirely of the blue energy. I began to feel uncomfortable, like I had breathed in too much air and my lungs were reaching their capacity.

A noise above me caused me to look up in confusion, only to see a green, black, and silver sphere hurdling towards me. I screeched sprinted away from it, only for it to change is path to continue heading towards me. Giving into the inevitable, I held my arms over my head and ducked into the classic 'Tornado Drill Position'. Silently, I closed my eyes.

A flash of green light shined through my eyelids. "Human, I would like to speak with you."

I slowly opened my eyes and stood up. To my amazement, I was surrounded by a dome of green energy with small hexagonal patterns in various areas. A sphere of light a few feet ahead of me faded to reveal a small, floating robot. Two servos extended from near the top of its upside-down-teardrop of a chassis. A small, almost spiky area protruded from the edges of its joints. Its chassis was almost entirely black, save for a few patches of silver hexagons on the upper areas of its servos. A ring of green circles stared out from the center of the black screen that dominated the majority of its chassis.

"I would like to help you, Human, if you would be willing to help me in return," it said in a surprisingly feminine voice that held a synthesized echo to it.

I narrowed my eyes at…her. I'm guessing it was a 'her'. "And why should I trust a strange robot that I've never seen before?"

"You are experiencing a buildup of TURBO energy, are you not?"

"…What."

"TURBO energy."

I blinked, then nodded as understanding dawned upon me. "The blue energy that I'm emitting, right?"

"Yes, Human. You have no way of properly releasing it, so it will continue to build up until there is no longer room for it."

"Judging by the waves I was sending out earlier, I would explode, right?" The robot somehow managed to nod. "How big of an explosion would I cause?"

"You would take out everything in approximately a mile."

I nodded in understanding, surprising myself by not freaking out as much as I should have been. "I'm going to assume that you're offering a way to stop that from happening. What would be in it for you?"

The robot's 'eye' flickered for a moment, almost as if it were blinking. "You see…my species kind of wants to – and don't freak out – assimilate your planet for the resources it possesses. I'm tired of helping Makino, the one that's leading the charge to destroy all other life forms. I'm tired of the destruction I've been forced to help cultivate. If I help you, I want your help in fighting back when my species gets here."

"So the deal is that you keep me from exploding and, in return, I help you save my planet," I stated, more than asked.

"Do we have an agreement?" the robot said.

"Yes," I said firmly, knowing that I wouldn't be able to back out afterwards. "Do you have a name?"

"Reethir K'Gra Z-183."

I grinned. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Reethir."

"Likewise!" With that, Reethir slammed into my sternum and collar bones. There was a flash of turquoise light, during which I actually felt the uncomfortable feeling go away as my body was practically remade.

When I opened my eyes again, I was staring out from under a helmet. I looked down at my hands to see them both covered by black and silver gloves. Several blue green lines ran across them, each one glowing slightly. I was at a loss for words. "I…wow."

"I agree."

As I looked my new suit over, I decided to bring up something that was bugging me. "So…not to be rude or anything, but what exactly are you?"

"I am a Techno-organic X-435 Omega class of Bio-parasitic Ultralink warrior," Reethir lectured. "I was floating up in your planet's troposphere when I felt your uncontrolled surge of TURBO energy."

My eyes narrowed. "Bio-parasitic? You're a parasite?"

Reethir decided to entirely ignore my question, however, in favor of asking, "What is your designation?"

I blinked at the sudden change in subject, but decided to go with it. "Natasha. Is it…okay if I call you by a nickname instead?"

The green emblem I had noted on my chest flashed briefly as Reethir…popped off of me. She tapped the tip of her right servo on the bottom of her chassis, almost like a human tapping their chin. "Hmm…how about Ether?"

"If you'll call me Net," I said jokingly.

Ether shrugged. "Alright, Ne-DUCK!" Ether jolted her servos downward. My body acted like a puppet, dropping to the ground. A rock sailed through the area that my head had been moments before. I forced myself back onto my feet and turned in the direction the rock came from. What I saw…surprised me, to say the least.

"Ether, you see the Earth Elemental too, right?" Sure enough, there was a tall being made entirely of rock standing on one of the natural land protrusions, a pile of boulders stacked next to it.

Ether's screen displayed a question mark. "Earth Elemental?"

As I stared at the red orb in the Elemental's head, I explained, "An Earth Elemental is a creature made out of rocks and stones that usually assumes a humanoid shape. It can control the earth around it to an extent and is usually found in fantasy games, not _real life!_ "

There was a brief silence before the Elemental roared something and jumped off the cliff. My muscles stiffened and Ether slammed into my chest again. Without my direction, my body shifted into a boxer's pose. "It's an ultralink, and it's definitely hostile," Ether growled.

I stared at the Earth Elemental, unable to move due to Ether's influence. I only had one word to say about that. "F***."

* * *

 **Well, now that that's out of the way, I'd just like to say that updates will be very,** **very** **sporadic. I'll post the chapters as they get done, but that could take anywhere from one week to two. The next chapter will hopefully be out by a week from Friday. Hopefully.**


	2. Meetings Part 2

**Second chapter. I know it's a lot shorter than the first one, but what are you going to do? When real life catches up to you and you want to make sure you make the promised date, a chapter might end up a bit shorter than expected. Also, I MADE IT BY THE DEADLINE I SET! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!**

 **Now, answers to reviews:**

 **AlloraStar217: No, Ether and Net will not willingly work for Dredd any time soon. To me, Dredd just sees people that can use TURBO energy as a way to gather more energy for himself. I feel like he would be more likely to hold Net prisoner to siphon her TURBO energy than he would be to trick her into working for him. I'm glad you like it so far!**

 **Sachika-Tsutano: Sorry if you believe that my OC is close to yours. I had never read your stories before coming up with her, and I promise you that I already have a solid idea for Net's personality, so she hopefully won't come any closer to yours. Glad you like it, and I'll do my best!**

 **Now, there are seven magic words that I'd like to type before I continue.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Max Steel.**

* * *

I stared down the Earth Elemental that stood not twenty feet in front of me. My body, under the control of Ether, the ultralink attached to my chest, remained in a combat-ready position. "Ether, you can't honestly tell me that you're planning on pitting _me_ against _that_ , right?" I asked, my voice getting higher with fear.

The Earth Elemental roared at me before chucking another rock.

Ether had me dodge, barely getting me out of the way in time. "No, I am pitting myself using your body against it."

"Well that's comforting!" I snapped sarcastically.

"I am glad that the information I have given you has calmed you down." Ether had me dodge another rock.

"Sarcasm, Ether! Look it up!" I exclaimed. "Look, I'm more of a…runner, than a fighter. I was hoping I'd at least have a chance to, you know, condition my body a bit before actually fighting. Maybe build up a bit of confidence, a bit of muscle memory. Any of these ideas ringing a bell?"

"What bell would that information ring, Net?"

Apparently, the Earth Elemental had had enough of our argument, because it managed to hit my right in the head. My vision and hearing blacked out for a moment before coming back into focus. When they had returned, I had a stone hand clamped around my neck, holding me several feet off the ground. "You are worse than Max Steel!" the Elemental shouted, its glowing orb nearly touching my helmet.

Ether finally released control of my body, allowing me to claw at my neck as I tried to breathe. {Net!} she yelled in my head, {I have found something that can get us out of our current situation, but it requires you to build up TURBO energy.}

"H-How?" I choked out.

{Intense physical activity or intense emotional state, but why would you need to know tha-}

Instead of spending even more of my dwindling air supply on listening to a further explanation, I zeroed in on one thing that the ultralink had said: intense emotions. I brought everything, my anger towards my parents, my sorrow at leaving my friends, my fear of the Elemental. Suddenly, my body began feeling numb again.

{That's it, Net! Let me try something!}

I was blinding by blue light for a moment, although it seemed easier to see through than before. The Earth Elemental was thrown back into one of the natural plateaus. There was a feeling like my body weakening, before it began rebuilding upon itself.

When the light faded, I immediately registered the extra sensory input my suit was somehow giving me. I turned my head as far as I could to see four long, black and blue bars sticking out of my back. Hesitantly, I attempted to force the excess energy my body had built up into the bars. I took off with a shout of surprise, barely flying away in time to avoid a now-enraged Elemental. I flew skywards for a few moments before managing to stop my ascent.

{Good, so you can dodge without my help,} Ether said, leaving me unable to tell whether she was joking or not. {Now we just need to figure out if you can land a punch.}

My eyes narrowed and I dived down to Earth. "I can do things for _myself_ , Ether," I snapped. Just as I was about to hit the ground, I pulled up. My flight path became even with the ground and aimed directly at the Earth Elemental.

{Hey, uh, Net?} Ether began to sound nervous. {This might not be the…idea.}

"What's with the pause?" I asked as I angled my fist, remembering from books I had read before to not tuck my thumb in. The targeting reticule in my helmet landed on the Elemental, proving that I was aiming at what I thought I was aiming at.

{There are currently too many words in the English language that can fill in the blank that I left in that sentence. For example: smartest, best, most _sane_.}

"That last one was two words." The Earth Elemental stared at me as I approached, seemingly stunned by my idea.

{That is not that point, Net!}

"Too late!"

With those two words, my fist collided with the Earth Elemental's jaw at roughly 60 mph. A splitting pain shot up my arm, announcing what was most likely a broken bone or two. I let myself slow down, then land. My body briefly lit up blue before reverting to the armor it was in before. I fell to my hands and knees.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the Earth Elemental look off into the distance for a moment before digging into the ground and vanishing.

"Net." I lifted my head to see that Ether had detached from my chest. The black and silver machine stared down at me, her optic display betraying no emotion. Her servos were crossed over the lower portion of her body. "Do you have any idea how worried I was?"

I blinked. Those…weren't the words I was expected to hear. "Wha?" was my oh-so-intelligent response.

Ether swiped her right servo through the air in front of her, creating several holographic displays in midair. "There were over two hundred thousand outcomes for the stunt that you just pulled, over 78.4 percent of which ending in you being mortally wounded, 21.5 percent ended in you breaking a bone or tearing a muscle. There was only a point one percent chance of you coming out of that completely unharmed, and that miniscule outcome did not occur! You fractured your radius and ruptured several blood vessels in your knuckles!"

I shrank back on myself. "I –"

{YOU COULD HAVE DIED!} Ether shrieked in my head, making me clutch my ears in pain. After seeing what she had caused, the display in front of her disappeared and Ether spoke softly out loud. "You could have died, Net. You are too full of life, too full of potential, to die. Do you understand?"

"What the hell is going on?"

Ether and I both turned to face the newest voice's owner, unknowingly blinking in unison when we saw the army of white and green that stood before us. A single man with a large gash in the chest plate of his armor stood at the front, his gun pointed straight at Ether.

{Let me handle this,} Ether said smoothly as she hovered in between me and the armada. "My apologies, but I currently do not know what my friend and I have done wrong. If this is about attacking the Earth Elemental, we only did so in self defense."

"Earth _Elementor_ ," the man corrected, his gun still trained on the ultralink, "isn't the problem here. What are your intentions, ultralink?"

I grinned. "Any chance you can disguise my voice, Ether?" I asked softly.

{Yeah, why?}

"If someone gets a recording of my voice and matches it with me like _this_ , someone could connect the dots and discover where I live," I muttered.

{Give me a second…done.}

I cleared my throat, producing a heavily synthesized noise, before speaking in my new, digitally-altered voice. "Ether has done nothing wrong," I stated. "She linked with me when I was on the verge of exploding from a surplus of TURBO energy in my systems. After that, Ether helped me stay alive when I was still surprised by the Earth _Elemental_." I stressed the last word, hoping that Gash would get the hint.

The man was silent for a moment before saying, "You both are coming with us back to base. Non-negotiable."

* * *

 **So…yeah. N-Tek makes its first official appearance, an Elementor is driven off (Who else saw Fire Elementor for the first time and thought** _ **Fire Elemental**_ **? Seriously.), and Ether got to yell at Net. Good times.**

 **Finals for my school's swim team (which I'm a proud member of) is coming up next Friday, so expect the next chapter by the 20th at the earliest.**

 **If you like it, please review! If you don't, please review and tell me why!**


	3. Meetings Part 3

**Next update! Thank you to the people that have reviewed thus far on the ramblings that are my work: AlloraStar217 and Sachika-Tsutano! Without them, I'd have no idea whatsoever if people liked this story or not! ...Yeah, not sure if that says something about my writing style or if people are just too lazy in general.**

 **Anyway, response to my review:**

 **Sachiko-Tsutano : I'm glad you like it so far! For your review, here's a chapter!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Max Steel, Cedar Point, or anything else that I may have referenced in some way, shape or form.**

* * *

I stared at the small plate of donuts that sat on the table in front of me. Despite the fact that it was well past the time I usually had dinner, I ignored the temptation to remove my helmet and take one. I could easily see the not-so-hidden camera in the corner of the room.

After following Gash (who I had later learned was named 'Commander Ferrus') into one of the green and white tanks, I had been driven to the base of an organization that Ferrus had explained was called 'N-Tek'. Once I was inside the base, Ferrus had corralled Ether and I into a room eerily similar to every CSI interrogation room that I had ever seen. That had been about…

"Hey, Ether? Do you have a built-in clock?" I asked curiously.

"Yes," the ultralink replied as she stared at her reflection in the one-way mirror.

"Okay." I pushed on my forearm slightly, marveling at the fact that my arm had already healed to the point of only having a bruise to show for the injury. After a few moments of awkward silence, I realized that my prompt hadn't done much good. "Can you tell me what time it is right now?"

Ether turned to face me, a digital clock appearing on her screen. 7:42.

I groaned before placing my head in my hands. I hadn't eaten since noon, and my body was used to having a granola bar around three, so I was fairly surprised I hadn't gotten a headache yet. Another silence fell over the room. I must have fallen asleep, because the next thing I knew, Ether was calling in my head again. {Net, are you there? Commander Ferrus has been trying to get your attention for the past two minutes.}

Disoriented for a moment, I opened my eyes and sat up straight. Sure enough, Ferrus was in the chair across the table from me. "Wha' wassa quessin?" I asked, not even awake enough to function fully. My words came out as an almost intelligible garble through whatever Ether had put up, forcing the ultralink to translate.

Ferrus frowned. "I asked what your name was."

I unconsciously tried to clean the sleep from the corners of my eyes, but only met my helmet. The loud 'thunk' against the material woke me up the rest of the way. "Net," I said, managing to make my words clear, "and that's Ether," I pointed at the ultralink.

"That isn't your real name," Ferrus stated.

"No it is not," I replied.

"And the ultralink's full name? It can't just be 'Ether'."

"The _ultralink_ ," Ether spat, flying up from behind me to get in Ferrus's face, "is able to speak for _herself_."

Ferrus rolled his eyes. "Fine. _Ether_ , what is your full name?"

"I am Reethir K'Gra X-435, and you are?" Ether completely dropped her irritation in favor of curiosity.

"Commander Ferrus, leader of-"

"What is your _full_ name?" Ether interrupted, causing me to snort in amusement. It sounded like a short burst of static.

Ferrus sighed. "Forge Ferrus."

I muttered, "And the alliteration bonus goes to…" A glare from Ferrus made me raise my hands in surrender. "Hey, at least my first name isn't Forge. By the way, is it Forge like 'forge ahead' or Forge like 'blacksmith's forge'?" Before he could answer, I said, "My needless comments will stop the moment I leave this building without being tracked in any way, shape, or form."

The man sighed, letting his face fall into his hands. "If you give us some information on how to contact you in the future, you can leave now."

"Can I get a pen and some paper?" Wordlessly, Forge got up and left the room. I caught Ether staring at me out of the corner of my eye, so I turned to face her. "What?"

"Why did your questions irritate him?" Ether asked, genuinely confused. "You merely asked him the meaning of his name."

I shrugged. "I might not be good around people, but I know that if I say the random things that I think about around them, it tends to annoy them a bit. It might help that more than a few people have told me that they honestly think I'm insane."

A question mark appeared on Ether's screen as she contemplated my words. After a few moments, the ultralink's screen returned to its normal eye. "I…I believe I understand. You wish to not be bothered, to be left alone. By showing others that you are undesirable to be near, you are able to live in peace."

"Exactly!" I exclaimed. "Finally, someone who gets it!"

"It is…unfortunate that you feel the need to go to such lengths to be isolated. Why do you?"

I blinked at the unexpected question. "I…uh…"

Before I could respond, Forge barged into the room once more and slapped a paper and pen down on the table in front of me. "Well?" he snapped.

I cringed. Had I really antagonized him that much? Silently, I picked up the pen and wrote down a private (and, more importantly, not connected to my main) email address. "Until I can get a phone, this is the best I've got," I said calmly, already getting up.

Ferrus snatched the paper off the table and raised an eyebrow. "What the hell is this?"

I smirked as Ether took my subtle hint and merged with my suit once more. "What in the email address 'akilledz521' is so hard to believe?"

"The A killed Z part," Ferrus said flatly.

I shrugged. "Not my fault if you don't get the reference. Now if you need me, I'll be evacuating the premises." Not waiting for Ferrus to reply, I bolted out the door and down the hall. After a few minutes of running, I made it to an area that had multiple vehicles scattered around. I hesitated for a moment, not sure of what to do.

{If you wish, we could simply fly to your place of residence,} Ether suggested.

"Okay. I just have to build up some energy, right?"

{That is correct.}

For the first time in a while, a faint, truly happy smile flashed across my face. I focused on the weak burst of happiness that I felt, letting it generate energy. There was a flash of blue light as my body reformed into the flight suit. I flicked the long, black rods that my wings took the shape of upward, testing to make sure they would move, before taking off.

* * *

Once I was above the area where I had first met Ether, I cut the power I was feeding my wings and leaned forwards, letting gravity pull me down. {Um…Net?}

I ignored Ether, reorienting my wings and preparing to send another burst of energy through them.

{Net, pull up! Pull up!}

At the last possible second, I flared my wings and began powering them once more. I slowed down enough to grab my dropped backpack as I flew by before speeding up once more.

{Net was it necessary to nearly make me fritz with worry?!}

I gave a whoop of happiness and loudly explained, "THIS IS SO MUCH BETTER THAN CEDAR POINT!"

* * *

I quietly landed on the balcony attached to my family's apartment, glad that my family's plastic patio furniture had made the journey. I flashed blue briefly, my suit degenerating back into what I had begun to think of as its base form. My helmet removed itself in another small flash of blue light. A quick glance inside told me all that I needed to know.

"They aren't home yet," I muttered as I gazed inside. I pulled the balcony door open and slipped inside, making sure to close the door firmly behind me. My mother, being the neat freak that she was, had apparently unpacked the last of the boxes the night before, as not a single one remained out in the open.

Ether separated from my collarbone and began exploring, taking in everything of where I lived. She almost immediately fixated on a picture on a table near the TV. "Is this a still-image of you?"

I walked over and picked up the frame. It was a picture of my father from when he had just entered the army. "No, that's actually my dad. I've always been told I look like a female clone of him, and an alien robot just confirmed the suspicion." The differences between my face and the face in the portrait were almost non-existent, save for a small, red birthmark that sat to the right of my right eye. Everything, from the look and color of my eyes to the color of my shoulder-length black hair, seemed to match the picture.

"Your…dad?" Ether asked, the ever-popular question mark appearing again.

I nodded. "My father, my male parental unit, whatever you want to call him." As I spoke, I set down the frame and walked over to the counter. I grabbed a piece of scratch paper and wrote a short note to my parents.

 _Mom and Dad –_

 _Sorry for not staying up for you guys._

 _First day of school was rough._

 _Will most likely be up before you guys tomorrow._

– _Natasha_

With the note written, I made my way to my new bedroom. Ether quickly followed me, barely slipping inside before I closed the door. At least I hadn't had to explain my clothing to my parents…

My clothing.

Crap.

Not sure how to properly word my question, I placed my backpack on the floor and hooked up my laptop to its charger. "U-u-uh, Eth-Ether?" I stuttered.

"Yes, Net?" Ether asked. The second I had placed my laptop down, she had begun examining the nechnology.

"I-Is there any chance that you could figure out a way for me to wear my casual clothing over this suit?" As I spoke, I became more confident with each word. "If you don't want to, you don't have to, but –"

"I would be delighted to," Ether cut me off. "I will work tonight on scanning your clothing and will have several camouflage options available to you tomorrow. For now, you require rest."

I yawned. "Yeah, I guess I do…and I forgot to eat."

Ether's eye flickered like she was blinking. "Eating is your version of recharging?"

"Yeah," I replied, "but it can wait until morning. It's not life or death."

"Yes, it is!" Ether exclaimed, surprising me. "If I do not recharge with your TURBO energy every eight hours, I will cease to function."

I grinned at the ultralink as I recited, "Three minutes without air, three days without water, three weeks without food."

"…I beg your pardon?"

"Rule of Threes," I stated. "Humans can go up to three weeks without food. I've only gone a few hours. I'll make sure to have a big breakfast in the morning. For now, though, I'm heading to bed. Good night." I pulled up the blankets of my unmade bed and crawled in.

"Good night, Net," Ether said softly. She flew into my small closet and began scanning clothing.

I lied in silence for a few moments before whispering, "Hey, Ether?"

"Yes, Net?"

"Thank you for everything."

"It was no problem at all, Net."

I didn't respond.

"…Net?"

I snored.

* * *

 **So a few hours before I posted this, I went and saw the Deadpool movie. I'd easily give it a 10/10, but no one cares about my opinion!**

 **Updates are being moved to Mondays now (but not this coming Monday) due to the schedule of my new beta reader, AlloraStar217! I really appreciate her(?) helping me with this and hope that she(again, ?) will help me solve the errors in continuity that I sometimes have in writing.**

 **Please review so I know for sure that more than two people actually read and enjoy this!**


	4. School

**Okay, chapter 4 now! Brought to the people that actually care about this story by me and my new beta reader, AlloraStar217!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Max Steel...still.**

* * *

I woke up to the monotone beeping that blared from my alarm clock. Not willing to leave the comfort of my bed just yet, I reached out from under the blankets and tapped the snooze button. I drifted off again, only to be pulled back by the exact same noise. My eyes opened just enough for me to be able to grab my alarm clock and angle it so I could hit the off button. Sleep…

"Net?" A rubbery point poked my cheek.

I grunted and dived deeper under the blankets.

"Net, I believe it is time for you to awaken and prepare yourself for your everyday activities. The noise-making device –"

Another grunt escaped from me as I sat up and slowly got out of bed. Once up, I made my way towards the bedroom door and the bathroom.

"Net, I do not believe that would be advisable at this moment in time! You were very clear last night that you did not want your parents to see your permanent attire!"

My squinted eyes closed fully, then cracked open again. Oh. Right. Ether.

 _Ether?_

That one thought sent my eyes flying open, making me hiss from the sudden change in brightness. "S'notta dream?" I asked.

"If you are inquiring about yesterday, then no." The gray, black, and green ultralink that was Ether floated into my thin field of vision. "It, as you so eloquently put it, s'notta dream." On the last two words, Ether dropped a few inches and almost seemed to slouch.

I nodded tiredly. "Min'elping me wi'a disguise?"

"That _is_ why I spent half the night scanning your wardrobe, is it not?" Ether locked her servos and flew backwards into my collar bone. The resulting flash of light blinded me even more. "Based on what was present in both your closet and your dresser, I was able to determine what would most likely appear to be something that you would wear."

"Uh-huh, thas' gray," I muttered. "Imma go ta tha bathr'm." Not waiting for a response, I trudged out of the room.

* * *

 _"Once again, the mysterious Max Steel has saved the day, and while we may not know who the man behind the mask is, we sure are glad he's here."_

*Click.*

I rolled my eyes at the TV, annoyed. "Seriously, you'd think he'd tone it down a little," I grumbled through a mouthful of toast. After fully waking up, I had thanked Ether for the black hoodie, dark blue shirt, and jeans that she had 'created'.

"I know," my father said as he cooked an egg at the stove. "At the same time, he's actually trying to do good."

"I know," I mimicked. "It's just…he could be so easily tracked. Doesn't he watch TV, or play video games, or –"

"Not everyone has no social life, Natasha."

I scowled at the man. "Yeah, but _Max Steel_ obviously doesn't, either. If he wasn't playing hero, he'd probably have a lot more time for friends." I finished off my toast and moved to put my plate in the dishwasher.

{You require more sustenance than that.}

I jumped, then glared at Ether, whose green optic was staring out at me from my partially unzipped backpack. _What are you?_ I thought to myself, _My mom?_

{No, I am not. I am fairly certain that two slices of 'toast' are not satisfactory, nutrition-wise.}

I ignored the fact that the ultralink was now hearing my thoughts in favor of grabbing my backpack and rushing out the door. "Bye, Mom! Bye, Dad! Bye, Leela!"

Two calls answered my own, as well as a trill from the parakeet that was suspended in a cage near the living room TV.

* * *

I walked into school to see, surprisingly, a muscular guy shoving kids into lockers. "People actually do that?" I muttered. A glance down the hallway told me that apparently Kirby was a usual target.

Max quickly let his friend out of the locker and glared at the bully. "Butch is at it again."

"It's not all bad," Kirby replied as he stepped out of the confined space. He handed Max a sandwich. "Your mom makes an awesome PB and J."

{Do you know them?} Ether asked.

"Uh, not really," I replied. "My first day was yesterday, but they were the only ones that were really being friendly."

{Go speak with them!} the ultralink ordered. {Be friendly!}

I froze, caught off guard by the demand. "I-It's not that simple. It never is."

"Whoa, what's that?"

Worried that Max's suddenly outburst was from seeing Ether, I immediately attempted to close my backpack up the rest of the way.

"I SAID YOUR MOM MAKES A GREAT SANDWICH!" Kirby yelled.

I looked over at the trio once more to see that Max had that vacant look in his eye again. He was silent for a few moments before asking, "Really? Wonder why."

"I think it's the way she trims the crust all the way around. Awesome. Crustless."

Max looked confused. "Wait, what?"

"What?" Kirby asked, equally confused.

Deciding to drop the subject, Max exclaimed, "I've gotta run. My cat needs emergency…dental…work." With that, he began walking towards the exit. "I'll see you."

Sydney laughed. "He can be so peculiar at times."

"For reals," Kirby agreed.

I blinked, then looked at my backpack. "I wonder what that was about."

{I have no idea.}

(LINE BREAK YET AGAIN)

I was in my third-hour class, Anatomy, when I first noticed the air getting foggy. "You see that, too, Ether?" I murmured, hoping the ultralink was able to hear me.

Apparently, she was. {Heat rising dramatically in the hallway. It is almost as if…}

My eyes widened. I bolted out of my seat, ignoring the teacher's protests, and pressed the back of my hand against the door. It was hot. "Fire!"

The teacher scowled at me. "And why haven't the fire alarms gone off yet if there's a fire, Ms. Pharaoh?" he asked, eliciting laughter from the entire class.

As I opened my mouth to answer, the fire alarm went off. At that, the rest of the class began screaming.

"Hey!" I called out but was drowned out. "YO, DARWIN AWARD NOMINEES!" I screeched. Everyone fell silent and looked at me. I dropped my voice to a normal level. "The hallway's not safe! Can whoever's closest to the window open it?"

The teacher's eyes widened. "You're right! Everyone, the window is a fire exit! Mr. Kowalski, open the window!" Kirby, who had been sitting by the window, nodded and managed to get it open. "Good! Now I want everyone to file out the window in a calm and orderly fashion!"

Not surprisingly at all, almost everyone rushed to get to the window. I rolled my eyes. "Idiots."

{Are all humans so…panicky?}

I chuckled. "It's called 'mob mentality'. If one human panics, the rest of the group are sure to follow."

{Why are you not?}

Before I could answer, the teacher yelled, "Come on, Ms. Pharaoh! I'm not allowed to leave without every student going before me!" Oh. I was still standing by the door and the window was on the other side of the room.

I took a step forward only for part of the ceiling to collapse, blocking my only path through. "There's no way for me to get through! It's not safe!" The teacher stared at me for a moment before diving out the window. Coward. I slid my backpack onto my back. "Now what?"

Ether flew out of my backpack and onto my chest. "The suit that was created upon my linking with you automatically filters out foreign contaminants and provides air. We will be able to get out through the hallway."

I nodded. My arm braced against my face, I yanked the door open. I picked my way carefully through the hallway, getting to the main doors with no problems. Once I was outside, I removed my arm from my face and began fake-coughing to not seem suspicious. A fireman walked up to me and carefully directed me to a nearby ambulance to be inspected.

* * *

 _"…Due to the recent fire, Copper Canyon High School will be closed until repairs are finished. Thanks to a large donation from Transhuman Industries, the repairs shouldn't take more than three days. In other news…"_

*Click*

"Ether, it's about time that I introduced you to something that all humans experience at some point or another. Some for longer periods of time than most."

"…I do not understand what you mean."

"Zerg Rush, my dear ultralink. Zerg Rush." I began laughing evilly.

* * *

 **...Yeah, Ether shall soon learn the evils of video games. Natasha's just a bit too...excited? Yeah, that works.**

 **No reviews for chapter 3. I'd really like feedback of any kind...really.**

 **Please review.**


	5. Games

**And I am back with another chapter! And now, the moment that no one has been waiting for: Ether is introduced to video games!**

 _ **But what if I do not wish to be introduced to video games?**_

 **Perfect timing! This is my muse, Ether, who types in italics.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Max Steel, Starcraft II, or any songs that may appear.**

* * *

"Okay!" I announced as I pulled my black, rubbery gloves on. "First off: getting you an email address."

"Ether's 'eye' flickered, then examined my hands. "Why are you wearing those?"

"Reasons. Now do you want to see what I'm doing or not?"

"…Yes."

I nodded as I pulled my laptop out of my backpack and opened it on my bed. Pausing for a moment, I also dug out the laptop's charger and plugged in the device. I logged into it and quickly began to set up an email address for Ether. "Your address is 'techpuppeteer2', okay?"

"Why 'Tech Puppeteer Two'?" Ether asked her common question mark on her screen.

"Because 'Tech Puppeteer One' was already taken," I said as I pushed Ether in front of the laptop. "Make up a password, but don't tell me what it is."

"Why?"

I rolled my eyes. "This is your account, Ether. Not mine. Besides, I only have one email address and I want to make sure that we can actually do stuff together."

The ultralink hesitated for a moment before quickly lowering the top of her chassis in a nod. She turned to the laptop and began speedily tapping keys with the tips of her servos. "What should I do now?"

"Hit the 'create account' button at the bottom of the screen." I blinked in confusion as Ether actually tried to tap the screen with her right servo. "Not like that! You have to use the mouse!"

"I am required to use the what?"

I facepalmed. "Move the device that I specifically hooked into the laptop. That is the mouse. By hitting the left button, you can select, and by hitting the right button, you bring up a short options menu."

Ether's screen lit up with her question mark again before switching back to her normal optic display as she left-clicked on 'create account'. "It is done. What should I do now?"

"Now we have to set up a few game accounts for you. Let me see the laptop…"

* * *

"Starcraft time!" I sat down in front of the computer that I had set up on my desk and logged in. My Protoss Stalker wallpaper was only visible for a moment before I launched the game.

"…I am afraid to ask this, but what is this 'Starcraft time'?"

I snagged my laptop again and began opening up Starcraft II. The loading screen, one of the Protoss from the newest expansion's campaign, covered the entire screen for a few moments before showing the login screen. Shoving the portable computer back over to Ether, I ignored her question. "Log in."

I created a custom game the second I logged in and glanced over at my laptop to see that Ether had gotten on successfully. "I'm sending you an invite to the game," I said, looking straight at the ultralink. "Make sure you use the _mouse_ to click 'accept'."

Ether's optic display pointed towards the ceiling. "I apologize that I am not used to your…" she glanced distastefully at the laptop, "…computer?"

"Laptop," I deadpanned.

"Yes. That."

I rolled my eyes and invited Ether to the game. Since I had selected one versus one, she appeared in the other group. "Want me to help you figure out the controls?" I offered.

"No, I can figure this out on my own!" Ether replied immediately, her eye narrowed.

I held up my hands in surrender. "Okay, your loss, both literally and figuratively. I'm going to be Zerg. Which are you doing?"

"Um…um…" The ultralink clicked on the drop-down menu that let her pick the race, then clicked again. "Pro…toss."

"Starting the game." I hit the start button and grinned as I heard the countdown. "It's counting down to your doom, Ether."

Ether shrugged. "You may believe what you wish to believe, Net."

The loading screen for the game popped up. We were playing on the map 'Dark Towers'. A little big for what I was planning, but it would work. Once the loading screen dumped Ether and me into the game, I started building up my base's economy. As I focused on the base, I glanced up for a second to see Ether attempting to adjust herself so that she could see what I was doing. "No screen peeking."

"I would never do what you have accused me of!" Ether said defensively as she moved back to where she was.

I sent an overlord across the map, knowing that there was only one location that the ultralink's starting base was at. Once it began moving, I started mutating a spawning pool. It finished fairly quickly, so I immediately began making a queen and Zerglings.

Roughly ten minutes into the match, a lone probe attempted to enter my base…and was quickly destroyed by my six new Zerglings. "What are those beasts?!"

"Oh, nothing," I said in a sing-song voice.

"Net, you are scaring me."

I chuckled darkly. "That's the point." An overlord began mutating into an overseer.

My overlord finally reached Ether's base. Both vespene geysers were covered by assimilators, but she only had a gateway, a forge, and a cybernetics core built. Her army only had a single zealot in it, but the gateway was warping something in. I watched it cancel what it was building, begin building something else, and have a chrono boost activated on it. "Cease hovering over my buildings! If I am unable to enter your base, you are unable to enter mine!" As if to punctuate her words, a stalker warped in and made short work of my overlord.

I shrugged and began mutating another. "All's fair in interplanetary war," I said simply. Another group of Zerglings was born, bringing my total Zergling count to 46. My overseer burst from its cocoon with a grunt, assuring me that I'd have at least something against dark templar if Ether had warped one in. With that, I began leading my small army across the map.

A synthesized scream made me jump before I realized that Ether had been sending yet another probe my way and seen my army. I smirked as I had all my Zerglings swarm the lone worker unit.

"THEY ARE EVERYWHERE!"

I blinked at the second scream. Another probe had gone to an area I had set up as a proxy base…on the other side of the map. Without a word, I had the few drones I had actually created at that base swarm the probe. In the darkest voice I could muster, I hissed, "Where is your god now?"

My Zerglings reached what would have been a good secondary base for Ether, letting me see that it was empty. Hadn't she expanded yet? I paused for a moment, then had my army charge the lone base.

"WHAT IS HAPPENING?!"

As my Zerglings swarmed the four units that Ether had created, I smugly typed three words.

 **ZERG RUSH KEKEKEKE**

"WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN?! NO, LEAVE MY PROBES ALONE!" My army swarmed the ultralink's workers, easily tearing through them and destroying any buildings she attempted to build in the process. For some reason, she started warping in a pylon. "NO, YOU INFERNAL GAME, I DID NOT CLICK THAT!"

With a huge grin on my face, I eradicated all of Ether's base, save the nexus. "I shall give you a moment to do whatever it is you do before your kind dies," I said solemnly.

"I am still able to win this," Ether said hesitantly.

"Nope," I replied. "It is now time for you to become one with the Swarm." I right-clicked on Ether's last building, letting the full brunt of my Zergling army hit her. My victory flashed across my screen, mirrored by the loss that was most likely being announced on Ether's. I looked over at the ultralink, who was just staring at the screen in what I assumed was shock.

"Wh-What?" Ether asked, her voice seeming to be glitching. "How di-did you do tha-tha-that?"

"So now you want my help, huh?"

"…"

"You won't get any better without help…or playing through the campaigns, which I want to finish playing through again before you play!"

"…Yes…"

* * *

I watched as the towering laser drill in the Terran base destroy yet another Archon, I sighed. Once the Protoss was destroyed, it pointed back at the large set of temple doors that were positioned on the far side of the map. As the drilling continued, a Goliath was clicked idly.

" _MilSpec ED209 online_."

*Click.*

" _Checklist protocol, initiated_."

*Click.*

" _Level one diagnostic_."

*Click.*

" _USDA selected_."

*Click.*

" _FDIC approved_."

I glanced down at the ultralink sitting at my computer, playing through the campaign. After beating her with the Protoss, Zerg, and Terran (which I was terrible at) races, I had given in and let Ether play through the gameplay-teaching storyline. "Do you even know what any of those acronyms mean?" I asked her.

"No, I do not."

"The ED209 is from _RoboCop_ , which you haven't heard of, the USDA is the US Department of Agriculture, and the FDIC is the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation," I explained. At Ether's surprised look, I added, "I looked it up online."

"I understand," Ether said as the objective grayed itself out and a couple of the characters began talking. After a few moments, the ultralink asked, "What is the noise that has been playing during the missions?"

"What noise?"

In response, Ether actually began playing one of the music themes.

I nearly burst out laughing. "You mean music?"

"Music?"

"You're joking, right, Ether? You've got to be joking. " I laughed, but then noticed Ether's question mark. "You're not joking. I guess I know what we're spending the rest of the break on." Without another word, I pulled my MP3 out of my pocket and hooked it up to my laptop. Once my laptop realized the device was there, I had it start playing a random song.

" _Here's to being human, all the pain and suffering. There's beauty in the bleeding, at least, you feel something. I wish I knew what it was like, to care enough to carry on. I wish I knew what it was like, to find a place where I belong, but–_ "

I started laughing again at the song that began playing. Of course, I had to pick 'I am Machine' when randomly selecting a song. I looked at Ether, who seemed conflicted. "What's wrong?"

"This music is…sad, in a way, but it seems…" Ether struggled to find the next word.

"Good?" I suggested.

"Yes, good. Is all 'music' like this?"

"No, I'm just weird like that," I admitted. "I'd rather listen to minor keys, electric guitars, and darker lyrics than the stupid stuff they call 'popular'." I shuddered at the thought of some more-hated songs.

"Could…Could we listen to this 'music' while I continue this game's campaign?" Ether asked, surprising me.

"Try actually listening to the game's soundtrack. The Terran themes are pretty cool." I paused the music and closed my laptop.

The ultralink performed her version of a nod. "I will listen more closely to the music as I play."

"Good. Just tell me if you need any help."

"Very well, Ne-why are the hallway's lights ceasing to be light?"

I turned to look out my bedroom door, then realized that it was still too early for the hallway light to even be on.

" _James Raynor…_ "

Oh, that cutscene was happening. I grinned and watched for Ether's reaction. Sure enough, when an alien stepped out from the darkness of the empty hallway, the ultralink emitted an electronic scream.

" _I bring tidings of doom_."

"Don't you always," I muttered as I stared sadly at the Protoss, remembering the poor guy's fate.

"ZERG!" Ether shrieked.

"Protoss," I corrected before laughing again.

* * *

 **...Yeah, when I first played through Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty, I was seriously starting to panic a little when the hallway's lights were starting to go out. I had honestly thought that the Zerg had breached the ship, but it was only a Protoss with an apocalypse prophecy! Yay!**

 _ **'Only' an apocalypse prophecy?**_

 **Ether, worse things have happened.**

 _ **And what exactly would those things be?**_

 **Reading about the worst Spider-man comics. Spider-man turning into a giant spider...then giving birth to himself. *shivers***

 _ **...I see your point.**_

 **Song played: _I am Machine_ by Three Days Grace**


	6. Dredd

**And another chapter is posted! Again, a special thanks to AlloraStar217 for betaing for me!**

 _ **And what about me?**_ **_I_ _was the one that helped you adapt the fight scene!_**

 **We've never done a fight scene before, Ether, and we had to add in another character to a 1v1 fight!**

 _ **...I still helped you get it done.**_

 **Whatever, Ether. Anyway, continuing the story now!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Max Steel, Starcraft, or anything else that you might recognize that is mentioned. I own a dictionary, though.**

* * *

I plopped down at an empty cafeteria table. My backpack was dropped next to me on the bench before I grabbed my simple, gray lunchbox from within. It was just so…loud. Why did so many people have to talk at once? It was overwhelming! My breathing began getting shallow. Too many people! I had to –

{Net, you do not seem to be functioning properly. Is something wrong?}

The sound of Ether's electronic voice made me give a sigh of relief. Just a single, individual voice was enough for me to have an island in the sea of noise. "Sorry," I murmured. "It's just…"

{Enochlophobia?} the ultralink asked, helping to calm me a bit more. I just had to focus on the sound of her voice in my head. Over the noise of the crowded cafeteria. No pressure at all.

"Could you dumb that word down, please, Ether?" I asked before taking a deep breath. "I didn't read a dictionary over the break."

I could almost hear Ether doing her best to roll her optic display. {Enochlophobia. It is the fear of crowds, crowded areas, large social gatherings –}

"Yeah, that's what was happening. I just…don't do well without my friends, in case you couldn't tell."

{You do not have any friends in the immediate area,} Ether pointed out. {By my calculations, if I had not spoken when I did, you would have experienced a loss of consciousness due to lack of oxygen flow to your brain.}

I blinked. "Wow. I didn't know that I had it that bad. At least, I have you here."

{Yes, but it currently looks like you are speaking to the air. I would advise you attempt to gain new companions to help calm you in these situations.}

"It's not that easy…" I chuckled sheepishly. "I kind of have trust issues, too. Basically, I watch the crowd for a few days and try to pick out a few people that seem nice. If I find a few, I start hanging out with them. It actually took half a year before I actually started fully trusting my friends back home."

The ultralink's next question left me speechless. {Why is it that you trust me if we only met less than a week ago?}

"I-I-I ha –"

"OH, HEY MCGRATH! WHAT'LL IT BE? AUTOGRAPH? LOCK OF MY HAIR?"

I flinched as I heard the school bully yelling from his table. A glance up revealed to me that Max had indeed approached BB's table and sat down, his backpack set down next to him. Max's backpack twitched slightly like something was moving around inside. I stared at it, my eyes narrowing. "You see that, too, right?"

{Yes…there appears to be a bomb attached to the underside of the table.}

"Exactly!" I exclaimed before realizing what the ultralink had said. "Wait, did you say there was a _bomb_ under the table?!" Not giving her a chance to answer, I ducked under the table and tried to usher the small alien towards my chest.

"Yes, there is a bomb!" the ultralink seemed to whisper-shout, completely ignoring my frantic gesturing.

I groaned. "I need to get into the normal suit!" I whisper-shouted back. "The helmet filters out unwanted particles and substances, right?"

" _What_?!" Max shouted, causing my head to snap over in his direction. He appeared to be screaming at his backpack.

"I SAID, 'BEAT IT'!" the bully yelled as he pushed Max over.

And, of course, the bomb went off. It released a thick, greenish-gray fog that knocked out every human that it touched.

Luckily, Ether caught on to what I wanted her to do and slammed herself into the area below my collar bone. I was enveloped in a blue flash of light for a moment before I was seeing out of the still-strange HUD. Quickly, I slid out from under the table and pulled myself to my feet. The targeting reticule that was part of the HUD moved over to a seemingly-random area before said area lit up the same shade of blue that my energy was. Max's voice yelled out from the fog, "It's TURBO time!"

I blinked, then facepalmed. "If I ever say anything that stupid," I told my ultralink companion, "kill me. I don't care what it takes, just kill me."

Ether popped off of my chest. "Noted."

The sound of loud, metallic footsteps made me turn my head to see several black and red robots marching towards BB. I frowned before settling into my poor impression of a runner's starting pose. My eyes closed for a moment. "I believe in me. I believe in me. I believe in me…kicking your butt!" With that last word, I charged at the robots. I took two down with no problems whatsoever. As I turned to face the third, I was surprised to see that Max Steel was there taking it down (read: he tore off the robot's arm and hit the rest of the robot's chassis).

I clapped my hands together as if to clear off the imaginary dirt that had gathered. "Okay, now we just need to sneak out and –"

"Who are you supposed to be?"

"…Crap." I turned to face Max Steel, a sheepish grin on my face. "H-H-Hey, Max Steel! How's it going?"

The hero sank into a boxing pose. "Why'd you come here with those robots?"

Was he really that stupid? "…So you didn't see me take out two of the three robots before you even joined in?" Before he could answer, I waved him off. "You know what? It doesn't matter. Come on, Ether."

The ultralink glanced around to see that the gas was already wearing off. "We need to leave as soon as possible, Net." She slammed into my chest.

Once I was sure that she was attached properly, I mock-saluted Max Steel. "Wellitwasnicemeetingyougottagobye!" I said in one breath before sprinting away. I ran to the girls' bathroom and Ether turned my camouflage back on.

{Max Steel knows of us,} Ether pointed out. {I do not know in what way he will react.}

"Thank you, Contraption Obvious," I grumbled as I left the safety of the quiet bathroom to fight my way back into the cafeteria. I wasn't hungry, but I did have to get my backpack back. Joy.

* * *

School let everyone out as soon as the cafeteria was cleared out. According to the announcement, the robot attack had destroyed enough of the lunch room that they had to take half a day to repair everything. Hence: half day.

I looked over at Kirby and Max as I exited the building, catching the tail end of their conversation.

"- only killer robots would attack our cafeteria more often," Max finished, making Kirby laugh as they split apart. Max took his backpack off his back and began speaking to it.

I blinked. "Well, that's a thing. He's definitely not going insane."

{You spoke to me in a similar way earlier today –}

My attention shifted over to the bully (who I had yet to actually learn the name of), who was about to get into a bus. "Y'know, Ether, Bully Boy nearly got kidnapped by those robots. Think we should play bodyguard?"

{I have no strong opinion one way or the other.}

I nearly choked on a laugh. "Did…Did I seriously just hear you quote _Futurama_?"

{…Look, Net! 'Bully Boy' is entering the public transport vehicle!}

"Wait, what?" I looked over at the bus and, sure enough, Bully Boy was climbing in. I began casually walking over to the bus and also got in, making sure to sit in the seat behind him to be more discreet. As more people began to file onto the bus and the noise level steadily increased, I felt myself shrinking inward. "H-Hey, Ether? You'll tell me if something happens, right?" I muttered.

{Of course! What is it that requires me to do this?}

In response, I reached into one of the pockets of my backpack and quickly slipped on my gloves. Once on, I pulled a set of earbuds and my MP3 out of another pocket and set to work untangling them. I cringed as the volume of everyone speaking grew louder, but did my best to focus on the headphones anyway. A sigh of relief escaped my lips as I successfully finished, put in the earbuds, and turned the MP3 on. With that, I closed my eyes and let the music drown out the loudness of my fellow students.

{Net! The bridge has exploded!}

My eyes shot open again as the bus started swerving. I got a death grip on my seat, wishing that I had sat closer to the front…then being perfectly fine with where I was when the front end of the bus started hanging in the air. The heavier front end of the bus began pulling everyone down before something yanked the bus back down.

A man in black and red armor ripped off the windshield and pulled himself into the bus before looking from student to student as if searching for someone.

" _Dredd_?" Max asked, seeming surprised. How would he even have a clue as to who that guy was?

The man glared at the bus driver, who promptly fainted. He nodded at his handiwork, before turning his attention to the rest of the bus. "Hello, kiddies!" He walked forward, making sure to examine every student's face. "It's over. Come quietly, and I'll allow your classmates to live."

I blinked. "H-He knows?"

{I believe so.}

I stood up and was surprised to see Max stand up as well. The man brushed passed Max before stopping at Bully Boy. "You've lost, Butch," he said darkly. He held up his hands and pointed their palms towards…Butch? That was seriously his name. "Ah, you do remember these, don't you?" With that, he grabbed the bully's head.

Nothing happened as he stood there. After a few moments, he roared, "Naught, what is this!? You said you found him!"

"I did!" a voice replied, most likely through a comm. link set up in the guy's helmet. "That is him! That's Max!"

Butch blinked. "D-Did you say 'Max'?" He pointed over the guy's shoulder. "That's Max, right there! Max McGrath!"

Max glared at the man.

"McGrath?" the man asked, dropping Butch (in fact, when did he even pick Butch up?) and walking towards Max. "As in Jim and Molly McGrath? Former N-Tek agents? Pioneers of TURBO energy? Oh, how could you have been so blind, Naught? It's obvious! Yes, you do look like your father. Aw, little Max McGrath, or should I say _Max Steel_?" With that, the man backhanded Max through the window. Everyone screamed and tried to get to the right side of the bus. "Or not."

"Dredd!" I looked out the window to see Max Steel hovering over the canyon that Max McGrath had just dropped into. "Would you care to step outside?"

"By all means," the newly dubbed 'Dredd' said before punching through the roof of the bus and jumping out.

"This is bad, this is bad, this is very, very bad!" I hissed as I began trying to get my seat's window open. If I could slip out, I could help fight…whoever that guy was supposed to be. Finally, the window slid down. I easily climbed through, dropping on the left side of the bus. Not for the first time, I silently cheered for my flat-chested, twig-like body. "Mind helping, Ether?"

{Gladly.} The ultralink, who had decided to remain attached to my chest even after I got my backpack back, suddenly caused me to be surrounded by a sphere of blue and green light. It encompassed me for only a moment before dying down. Luckily, I had wings.

I steadily fed the jet propulsion system TURBO energy, managing to move around a lot more easily than I had my first time. Max was flying at Dredd, but Dredd was holding both of Max's fists. I smirked, then began charging at Dredd's side. "Mind if I cut in?" I quipped as I punched the man into the rock pillar beside him.

"You're helping me?" I looked over at Max uncomprehendingly. "I thought you worked for Dredd!"

I raised an eyebrow. "You believed that I worked for the villain who obviously has problems with original names and underestimating others?"

{Net, look out!}

Something hit me hard, knocking me into the bus and making it teeter precariously. "As you can see," Dredd monologued, "I've made some modifications to my suit. Now there is no such thing as too much TURBO energy." I looked up to see that his faceplates had split so that he could actually siphon what looked like blue tendrils of energy from Max. He kept absorbing until he flashed red and seemed to transform.

"Hey!" I shouted as I shakily got to my feet. "I didn't know we were playing _Evolve_! If you had let me know, I would have brought Daisy with me!"

Max sent me a blank look, but Dredd looked at me like he was seeing me for the first time. "There is another source of TURBO energy in Copper Canyon? Naught, why didn't you inform me?" He walked towards me, blasting me with another bolt of red energy. His faceplates opened again as he began pulling TURBO energy away from me. My strength diminished until I fell to my knees once more. "Tell me, TURBO user, what is your name?"

My eyes narrowed. The cheerful tone that my voice usually had (even through the speech alteration that Ether did) was completely dropped, replaced by a tone colder than ice. "That is none of your concern." I got to my feet, my form already beginning to glow blue once more with energy, but it was quickly drained once more. I growled and tried to stand up once more, but was knocked down by Max getting thrown into me.

"Two for the price of one! My, my, this is my lucky day." Dredd began siphoning both mine and Max's energy.

"Hey!" Sydney yelled. When had she gotten off the bus? "Let them go!"

"Mmm, this kitten's got claws!" the villain said before blasting the ground at Sydney's feet.

"No!" Max got to his feet and started to move to attack Dredd.

"No, Max!" a voice said as the emblem on Max's chest began flashing. "He'll only get stronger! We need a new strategy!"

"I, for one, agree with who I'm assuming is Steel?" I asked, taking a step away from the advancing villain.

Ether was quick to add in her two cents. "I second that."

"Again, who are you, even?" Max asked, confusion evident in his voice. His split second of distraction was enough for Dredd to knock him down and begin siphoning energy once more. In a strained voice, Max grunted, "I'm open to suggestions!" Struggling through the lack of power, Max somehow managed to jump forward and kick Dredd back.

"I still have no idea whatsoever who he is, so I'm not even going to suggest anything," I said.

Steel was the first to come up with anything helpful. "If he can't get in close, he can't power up!"

"So what do you say, Steel?" Max looked down at what was undoubtedly an ultralink on his chest. "Up for some heavy lifting?"

"Oh, absolutely!"

"Go TURBO, strength!" I was nearly thrown back by the sudden wave of force that expanded into a shield surrounding Max. When it receded, the hero was in a suit that was much bulkier, making it look like he had huge arm muscles. He leapt backwards, doing a flip in midair, and landed next to a pile of boulders. He immediately began chucking them at Dredd.

I zipped after him before lighting down. "Wait, he's using our energy…to get stronger?!" I asked.

"Yes, and we could use some help fighting him if you don't mind!" Max's ultralink, 'Steel', exclaimed.

My eyes narrowed. Each word that I spoke, my voice became more and more devoid of emotion. "There are many things that are currently running through my mind to scream at that…insert choice insult."

"'Insert choice insult'?" Ether asked, flying off of my chest.

"Yes, insert choice insult. Ether, can you find any modes that won't have me blasting TURBO energy at Parasite wanna-be?"

If the ultralink could have, she would have grinned. "I have prepared something that I believe you will enjoy immensely." With that, she backed into my collar bone again.

When the usual transformation-light died down, I had shot up about a foot and had a lot more mass than before. I looked at my hands and gasped. "Ether?"

"Yes, Net?"

Max snorted as he continued his assault.

"Did you seriously base this off a Terran marauder," I stated more than asked.

"I made sure to do my research on it first!" Ether pointed out. "I even made sure to include all campaign upgrades!"

I frowned. "Ultra Capacitors or Vanadium Plating?"

The smirk in the ultralink's voice was easy to hear. "Both."

"Then let's do this!" I announced as I also began throwing rocks as well. Unfortunately, Dredd picked that moment to stop dodging the rocks in favor of firing a beam of energy that knocked Max and I down while making the bus wobble.

The blast, after hitting me, hit the pillar of rock behind me, causing more boulders to fall. I saw Max struggling to avoid being hit, but I merely stood still and caught one of the falling stones. Before I could throw it, I was knocked over by yet another energy blast, which made me drop the rock just below Ether.

"He's too powerful!" Max yelled, irritated.

"Little help here?" I asked as I struggled to free myself.

Apparently Steel didn't hear me, because he separated from Max and said, "Turbofy me!"

"Wait, I thought the point was not to use TURBO energy on him."

"Thank you, Captain Obvious! Now can you help me get up?"

Steel ignored me. "Who said we were using it on him?" He pointed up at a precariously perched group of boulders behind the advancing Dredd.

With a final heave, I got the huge rock off of me and stood up. "Thanks for the help," I said sarcastically.

Max decided to ignore me as well in favor of over-energizing Steel and throwing him like a boomerang. Steel flew by Dredd, then swerved up to plant right in the center of the rock. "You missed, Max!" Dredd taunted.

"Oh, no, he didn't," Steel shot back before releasing a wave of energy, which destroyed the rock formation and sent stones flying towards Dredd. The villain's energy seemed to drain from the barrage, forcing him to devolve into his other form.

In unison, Max and I ran over and punched Dredd in the face, sending him to be buried under a pile of rocks. "I thought we were playing _Evolve_ , not _Digimon_!" I jokingly complained as Dredd smashed through the rocks.

"Out of ammo?" Dredd asked, seeing that Max and I were standing with nothing to throw. "What a shame. Fortunately, I have tons!" He gestured towards the bus.

"No!" I shouted.

Ether made a noise that sounded like a gasp.

Max screamed, "Oh, no!"

Dredd, who was most likely grinning like the lunatic he was under his helmet, started using his…negative energy, I guess, to pull the bus towards him. It was a good plan in theory…until someone started driving the bus in reverse, nearly forcing Dredd off the cliff.

As Dredd struggled to climb up, an N-Tek helicopter landed and troops streamed out of it. "It's over, Dredd," Max said calmly.

"Yeah," I agreed. "They might, and I emphasize the 'might', be lenient on you if you actually give up now."

"It's not over!" Dredd snapped. "Don't you realize, Max Steel, now I know who you are: Max McGrath!"

"Is it true?" Sydney asked, making me jump. When had she gotten there?! "Is that really you in there, Max?"

There was a whoop of joy from near the destroyed bridge. "Now that was one long schlep." Max _McGrath_ pulled himself up.

"What?! How?!" Dredd roared.

I could practically see the smirk on Max Steel's face. "Who am I supposed to be, again?"

The N-Tek agents finally ran over, all five of them pointing their guns at Dredd. Farrus, who was leading the group, was the one to speak up. "Don't move!"

Dredd looked from gun to gun, then let go of the cliff, laughing maniacally as he fell. A red and black jet decloaked as it flew down to catch Dredd, then flew off again.

"Aw, crap," Farrus grumbled as he began walking towards the helicopter. Max and I took the hint and began walking over as well.

Ether let my suit shrink back into its base form while Max turned back into…Max _McGrath_? I blinked, then blinked again. After a few moments of gaping, I said, "Max, you're already here. Go back through whatever time anomaly you fell through before you destroy the space-time continuum."

Max looked confused, as did Steel and Ether. One of the N-Tek agents, however, began laughing. "Nice one, Net!"

I raised an eyebrow. "And you are? And since when has Max McGrath had a flirty twin?"

"Me llamo Berto," the agent said, grinning as he fiddled with the piece of unrecognizable tech in his hands, which seemed to be controlling the Max talking to Sydney. "The one out there is a hologram."

"Ah, that makes perfect sense," I said, deciding to just go with it.

"-and besides, I like hanging out with _you_ , Max," Sydney's voice came from the device.

Max grinned. "Tell her I like hanging out with her, too."

Berto smirked as he began playing with the device again. Not-Max's voice was easily heard over the speakers. "And I like hanging out with you, too, like really, really, REALLY like it."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, dude! Easy!" Max said, grabbing Berto's shoulder. "One really was totally enough!"

"Hey, _you_ called _me_ ," Berto pointed out. "Now, is there anything else you want me to say?"

Max looked out at the students to see Not-Max staring into Sydney's eyes while the rest of the students threw Kirby up and down, chanting his name. "Naw, I think that says it all."

{Net, it is currently 4:27.}

My eyes widened almost comically from beneath my helmet. My parents usually got home at around 4:30, unless something held them up at work! "Well I'm glad I could help would you look at the time gotta fly!" I said in one breath. As I spoke, I began walking away until Ether reconnected with my suit, transforming me into my winged form, then took off as fast as I possibly could towards the city.

* * *

 **Another chapter bites the dust! Up next, Ether and Net actually go to N-Tek without being dragged there against their wills!**


	7. N-Tek

**Chapter 7 finally! It took me almost all week to have the internet to actually get this done, but here it is now!**

 _ **I still cannot believe that you spent your time working on an inanimate chunk of metal that was not even programmed correctly when you could have been working on continuing this!**_

 **Ether, real life takes precedence. The internet connection being screwed up whenever I was home from Robotics, though, that was just an unlucky coincidence.**

 _ **Do you mean like how your alliance had two different technical difficulties in the la-**_

 **Oh, I'm sorry, Ether. It looks like there's no time left in this Author's Note for you to be a poor sport in a competition you weren't even in. Anyway -**

 _ **(All cheating aside)**_

 **IGNORING the ultralink, let's begin!**

 **Disclaimer: Nope. I still don't own Max Steel. I _do_ , however, own a VHS copy of each movie in the original Star Wars trilogy and a copy of Skyrim.**

* * *

It turned out that my parents weren't home after I rushed away from the scene of the battle with Dredd. In fact, they didn't show up until around nine, claiming that their boss had thought that something hadn't been done correctly and had insisted on lecturing them and several of their co-workers. Despite this, however, my father had come home with a huge grin on his face, the look that he would get on his face whenever he had successfully annoyed my mom during one of _her_ lectures.

I decided that it was best not to question it.

Since the next day had ended up being a Saturday, I had decided to sleep in, much to Ether's irritation. After the usual sleeping in routine (which we had perfected while the school was being repaired), I had gotten up and started making breakfast when the Imperial March from Star Wars began playing in my head. I raised an eyebrow at Ether. "And you're trying to lure me to the Dark Side of music why, exactly?"

Ether's screen flashed a question mark for a moment before vanishing again. "I had assumed that it would be the most appropriate choice for a 'ringtone' for Commander Forge Farrus. He wishes for us to have a 'training day' at the N-Tek headquarters."

"What, do those idiots have that little faith in – where is their base?"

The ultralink did her best to mimic rolling her optic display. "Do not worry. I remember the route."

* * *

"…and this is my lab!" Berto announced as he led me through a specific door. "So, what do you think?" The second I had flown in, Farrus had decided to designate Berto as my tour guide.

I nodded. "Cool. Hypothetically, how mad would Farrus be if someone were to, say, hijack the training simulator for, oh, I don't know, Skyrim?"

Berto grinned. "Net, I like the way you think."

"What about me?" Ether asked, popping off of my suit. Throughout the entire tour, she had been…quiet. Had she fallen asleep or something? {No,} she replied to my thoughts, {I just do not trust them.}

Berto looked at the ultralink. "Well, what do you think about the idea?"

Ether did her best to shrug. "I do not know what Skyrim is. Net has yet to introduce me to it." As she spoke, the ultralink stared at me, as close to a hopeful look as she could get plastered across her screen.

I shrugged back. "Nah, I'm thinking more…Undertale, next." When Berto raised an eyebrow, I grinned. "Genocide run," I muttered. "Blind, with me recording every reaction for posterity." I chuckled darkly.

"You are _muy malo_ ," Berto said with a small grin.

"Sorry, I'm late, Berto. I kind of overslept an-AAAAH!" Max sprinted into Berto's lab, crashing right into me.

Although I didn't notice it, energy began billowing from my eyes. "Watch where you are going, Max McGrath," I said in a monotone, unsure on how to actually sound.

Max stood up and frowned. "Who invited him?" he asked Berto.

Steel seemingly popped out of nowhere with his servos crossed. "Yeah, what he said!"

At that moment, all activity in my mind stopped except for one thought: _Does he seriously think I'm a guy?_

{It appears so,} Ether replied. {Why is that so important?}

Instead of answering Ether, I burst out laughing. Now that I actually paid closer attention to my voice, I could hear that, although it was high enough to sound like a female's, it was still too deep to sound normal. " _That_ ," I laughed, "just made my day. I really needed that."

Max, Steel, and Berto exchanged looks. Steel was the first one to speak. "I don't believe he's…all there in the head."

"What do you mean?" Ether asked sarcastically. "I have known this from the second day I spent with Net."

My laughter stopped. "Wow, you're actually being sarcastic, Ether? I didn't know you had a sarcastic circuit in your chassis!"

"You are patronizing me."

"No, I'm not!"

"Yes, yo-"

"Ether! Net!" Max called out. "Look, Berto's been trying to get your attention for a few minutes now. Knock it off."

I frowned but complied. Ether straightened her position in the air as if she were acting smug.

" _Muchas gracias_ , Max," Berto said before taking a few steps back. "Now, everyone must close their eyes and remember: no peeking."

I complied by closing my eyes and covering my helmet's visor to make it more visible. "I'm ready when you are."

"Same here," Steel chimed in.

"Ditto." Max.

"I am prepared." Ether.

There was about a moment of dead silence before Berto spoke again. "You're sure you're not peeking?"

"One hundred percent, Berto."

"My optic is currently offline."

"I'm not," Max replied. "Steel might be, though. You know how _he_ is."

"You know how _he_ is," Steel mocked.

"Is that your impression of me?"

"Is that your impression of me?"

"Gentlemen, please?" Berto cut them off. When they both fell silent, he continued, "Introducing, the All-new, Mega-improved, and disturbingly handsome Cybernetic Tactical Robot Operative, give it up for CYTRO!"

I opened my eyes to see a tall robot with a green visor being lifted out of the floor by a green hard-light platform. My jaw dropped. Max's opinion, on the other hand…

"Really? Another one?"

"Okay," Berto relented nervously, "the previous models might have had some issues, but with this one, I've worked out all the kinks!" He pulled a tablet off of the desk behind him and hit a button, causing CYTRO to do a flip.

I nodded. "Pretty high dexterity there."

"He's certainly agile enough," Steel agreed. "What else can he do?" Berto hit another button, which caused CYTRO to blast Steel in the face with a laser. "That was a cheap shot!"

Max grinned. "I'll give it to you, Berto, he's got some moves."

"He's got more than just moves." Berto hit yet another button, causing two guns to flip out of CYTRO's back. I caught one while Max caught the other. "Farrus wants us to be ready for everything, right? So I figured having a walking armory in the field with us could come in handy."

"Sweet, now I've got four sidekicks," Max said.

"Excuse me?" I snapped, my eyes glowing again.

"I beg your pardon?" Ether and Steel asked at the same time.

Steel continued on, "Did you just refer to me as a _sidekick_?"

"Oh, I'm sorry," Max joked, "do you prefer 'second banana'?"

I raised an eyebrow. "'Second banana'?"

"Understudy? Mascot? Junior Assistant? Fan Club President?" Unnoticed by Max, the gun in his hand began sparking with TURBO energy. I yelped upon seeing the same problem with my gun and dropped it, only causing it to give a sizzle before dying.

"Uh, guys?" Berto tried to interrupt the argument between Max and Steel. Key word: tried.

"Look, it's _Max_ Steel, okay? I can't be the sidekick, I've got top billing."

"Then perhaps we should call ourselves 'Steel Max'!"

"GUYS!" Berto yelled, still failing to get their attention.

"Look at the gun, you idiots," I grumbled, my palm hitting the front of my helmet.

"What if we call ourselves 'Max Knucklehead'?"

"Max Knucklehead sounds like a perfect name for you!"

At that point, the gun began beeping erratically, finally catching Max and Steel's attention. I dived behind a desk as CYTRO grabbed the gun from Max and jumped behind cover. The gun blew up, sending bits of CYTRO flying everywhere. The head landed at Berto's feet.

"Uh…" Max started, "I guess I forgot how my TURBO energy overloads technology."

Berto didn't even grace him with a response, instead marching away with the poor robot's head. I got up and chased after him. "Hey, Berto! Wait up!"

"What do you want?" Berto asked, irritated.

I pulled my special gloves out of a small pocket on the outside of my right thigh. Knowing that my movement had confused Berto too much for him to be mad at me, I pulled the gloves on. "My TURBO energy doesn't affect stuff through these gloves, so I was wondering if I could help you put CYTRO back together again. I've always been interested in robotics and stuff, and I'd really like to see how he works."

Ether flew over to me and hovered over my shoulder. "Net? I did not know you were interested in working with technology."

I shrugged. "You didn't ask."

Berto glared at me. "Prove it. Prove that you won't destroy CYTRO any more than Max already has."

"Sorry about this, Ether."

"Sorry about wha-AAAUGH! WATCH IT!" Without further warning, I grabbed the ultralink in my hands and simply held her. Ten seconds passed, then thirty. When a whole minute went by without Ether beginning to overload, Berto sighed.

" _Lo siento_ , I had just finished reassembling CYTRO, and then Max blew him apart!"

I blinked, then grinned as an idea came to me. "Why don't I help you TURBO-proof it? That way, Max can't destroy it right away."

"You don't have to if you don't want to, Net. I –"

"Don't think of it as free labor," I interjected. "Think of it as…me being your new intern…that wants hands-on experience in rebuilding a humanoid-shaped robot…that can also be used to help solve and correct the energy overload problem."

Apparently, my last words won him over, because he nodded in agreement. "All right, but you must do exactly as I say. Both of you, if Ether wishes to join us?"

Ether tapped the bottom of her chassis with her servo before doing her version of a nod. "I do not wish to run into Farrus, and I do not wish to be with Max and Steel, as they are being…right now."

"Being what right now?" Berto asked, unused to Ether's weird speech patterns.

"She does this weird 'insert word here' thing, only she doesn't say when to insert the word. She just pauses," I explained. "She probably couldn't think of one specific word that would work better than any other, so she's letting us fill in the blank."

Ether 'nodded' again. "They are being insufferable, ignoramuses, idiotic, childish…"

I smirked slightly as Ether continued to list different adjectives and nouns that would fit in that sentence. Berto chuckled softly.

* * *

 **And that's a wrap! There weren't any reviews for Chapter 6, so I guess that's it!**


	8. Sidetracked

**Chapter 8!**

 **Disclaimer: I still do not own Max Steel, Starcraft, Five Nights at Freddy's, or any other recognizable thing in this.**

* * *

"Can you lend me a hand, Net?" Berto asked, pointing at two individual pieces of CYTRO.

I grinned. "I'll even give you two." I held the pieces together and glanced over at Ether.

"I am curious, how did you originally break free of your programming?" Ether asked. She had been trying to interrogate Steel for the entire time that Berto and I had been working, and it had been getting annoying.

"Three, two, one…" I counted.

"I honestly have no clue what you are talking about."

"Ether," I called, "quit tormenting the poor guy. He's not going to tell you anything, so why don't you help me out?"

The female ultralink turned to face me, then noticed what I was doing. "Do you require me to 'weld' these together?"

"That would be appreciated," Berto said, chuckling slightly at how relieved Steel looked.

A beam of energy from the tip of Ether's servo was used to heat up the metal components, forcing them to meld together. "And there we are!"

I heard the sound of wheels rolling coming from the entrance of the lab. A groan escaped me. "Don't look now, but…"

The wheels stopped as a familiar (and currently irritating) voice announced, "Hey, hey, what'd'ya say?"

"Ah, stay back, Master of Disaster!" Berto warned as he turned to face Max.

"You are not welcome here, human!" Ether exclaimed as she flew up into Max's face. "I do not wish to hang out with a murderer!"

Max blinked in confusion.

"Ether, I think that statement killed him," I said simply.

Berto, who somehow managed to stay serious through the exchange, continued, "As far as you're concerned, this is an S.T.A."

Max frowned. "S.T.A.?"

"Sensitive Technology Area," Steel provided helpfully.

"Aw, come on! It was an accident, Berto! I didn't mean to break your little science project!" Max complained. "And if it's an S.T.A., why's he here?" To emphasize his point, he jabbed his finger in my direction. I raised an unseen eyebrow and tried my best to shift my body language to say 'who, me?'

"My little science project?" Berto asked, not able to believe what he was hearing. He set down the project that he was working on and walked over to grab his wrench.

"Really," Steel mocked, "you're a people person."

"I am not leaving this lab until I solve that TURBO-Energy-Overload problem of yours," Berto said as he sat down again to continue working.

"What about Net?"

I narrowed my eyes and crossed my arms. "Unlike you, I've actually taken steps to prevent energy overloads from happening."

Ether looked at me. "You have?"

I facepalmed.

Max rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Berto put your project on the backburner! Grab your board! We can do that later!" At that, Max leaned into a light, shorting it out almost instantly.

Steel sighed. "No, we really can't."

"The good news is: we're close. Really close," Berto said proudly. "It turns out Ether, Net, Steel, and I make a pretty good team. Am I right?"

"We're calling ourselves Steel-To!" Steel proclaimed as he struck a pose. "Notice who gets top billing?"

I glared at the male ultralink. "What are we, chopped liver?"

Steel hovered a little lower, somehow looking sheepish. "Steel-To and EtherNet."

"Oh, yeah! Give me some aluminum!" Berto said, fist bumping with Steel's servo, then bumping his elbow against one of Steel's higher joints.

Max was not amused. "Your own secret handshake."

"That they made up in about five minutes while taking a break," I pointed out.

"Heh, yeah. We kind of bonded over this project," Berto said.

If Steel could have, he would have grinned. "Not unlike how we bonded that Ionized Binary Wrench to the Quantum Stasis Mechanizer!"

Berto laughed.

I frowned. "I helped, too."

"Oh, neat," Max deadpanned, "inside jokes, too."

"Oh, hey! Do you want to see something we have finished?" Berto said, remembering what we had also been working on. "Not too close!"

"Behold!" Steel announced. "The new, and improved –"

"And still incredibly handsome: CYTRO!" Berto hit a button on his tablet which summoned CYTRO into the room.

Max approached the robot. "Hey, bro? Considering what happened to your predecessors, you might want to make a run for it!" Max held up the old CYTRO's head in front of the robot for a moment before spinning the head like a basketball and tossing it to a very irritated Berto. He then walked away from us.

"He is very infuriating," Ether said, summing up the feelings of everyone in the room.

"Agreement," I monotoned, not trusting myself to speak anymore.

* * *

"So we reinforced his defense matrix, jacked up his weapons systems, installed Alpha-900 flight capability, and seriously enhanced his remote functionality!" Berto said proudly, has he began going through a movement check for CYTRO. "I'm telling you, anything you want done, CYTRO can do!"

Suddenly, the alarms went off.

"Whoa, what's up?" Max asked.

"Uh, I don't know," Berto said, equally confused, "but let's check it out! Come on, Steel!" With that, he and Steel ran off, Berto leaving CYTRO's tablet on a desk.

I rolled my eyes. "He did seem to be paying more attention to Steel than us, huh, Ether?"

"I agree." We began chasing after them.

Max mumbled something under his breath before chasing after us as well. We turned only to be hit by an overwhelming stench. "Oh, what smells? Is somebody frying garbage?"

"How would you even know what that smells like?" I asked.

A man that I hadn't noticed spoke up. "An intruder met our security measures."

"Oh, hello, Gash!" I exclaimed, pretending to be extremely excited to see him. "How are you?"

Another one of the people I had missed turned to glare at me. "This is serious, Net. You shouldn't laugh about someone breaking into a high-tech facility."

The man next to her grinned. "Oh, come on, Kelly. Let the kid have his fun. He's not hurting anyone."

I blinked once, then twice. Then it clicked.

My mother, Kelly Pharaoh, and my father, Michael Pharaoh, were standing not ten feet away from me, working for N-Tek.

{Net, remain calm. If you reveal that you know them, you could blow the entire 'secret identity' setup that you currently wish to have.}

I nodded at Ether's advice, glad that I had the ultralink to keep me from doing anything stupid.

{That is what I am here for, is it not?}

My mom rolled her eyes at my dad's antics before turning to the other female soldier. "What does it look like, Kat?"

"An intruder tried to break into one of the Chem Vaults, but why?"

"I don't know," the third male soldier said, "but it looks like he wasn't alone." He poked a pile of goop that had somehow gotten onto the floor before looking down the hall at the trail it had formed.

"What exactly is a Chem Vault?" Max asked.

"Chem. Vault," I deadpanned. "It probably stores dangerous chemicals of some kind."

The soldier nodded. "The place where we lock up all the bad stuff."

"Split up into teams of two," Farrus ordered. "Search every square inch of this place."

I raised my hand.

Farrus' hand met his forehead. "Yes, Net."

"Shouldn't you alert the rest of the compound so they can search as well?"

Farrus shook his head. "No time."

I frowned. "So you're too lazy to do it? That is a fine example of very poor communication skills among soldiers. Do you know what usually kills people in battle? Lack of communication."

My mom glared at me. "Actually –"

"Let him have this one, Kal," my dad cut her off.

I nodded at him, a grin on my face, before turning to Ether. "Let's head out, then. Oh, let's fly. I've got a catchphrase that I don't think is incredibly stupid!"

Ether sighed. "As long as it does not end up being 'It's TURBO time!'" Instead of speaking the last few words, Ether actually played a clip of Max yelling them.

"Okay!" I said happily. "Databurst: Hummingbird!" Ether flew into my collarbone, forcing my body to be deconstructed and reconstructed into the form similar to Max's flight mode, but had much thinner wings. They were so thin, the black material that composed my suit was actually semi-transparent in that area, letting the blue energy that swelled underneath be barely visible. With a grin on my face, I jumped into the air and began moving the 'wings' on my back, channeling as much energy as I could into them. Due to the fact that Ether and I had worked on trying to make the 'wings' as small as possible, they had to work as fast as a bumblebee's (or hummingbird's) wings to actually move my body mass.

That was where the TURBO energy came in.

Because of I had first discovered the fact that I could generate TURBO energy, I knew that it could be used to make me go really fast. What did my wings have to do? Go really fast.

They let me get into smaller areas and go over 150 miles per hour. We had even worked it out so that they didn't create a mini-hurricane whenever I flew over an area!

Needless to say, I was very proud of them.

I zipped forward, easily soaring down the hall. "So…any idea on where we should search?" I asked Ether.

{…Do you wish to modify the Simulation Room as well instead of searching?}

"We're so lazy."

{We are not lazy! We are just…looking intently in the Simulation Room!}

"Ether. We should be searching right now."

{Which is exactly what we will be doing. It is nearby the scene of the crime, and we are…setting up a security checkpoint in that room.}

I frowned. "How did you even figure out how to tempt me like that?"

{I am required to learn something from you manipulating me to play games that are not enjoyable.}

"Like what?"

{The Five Nights at Freddy's incident.}

I grinned. Right, that…

*FLASHBACK*

"Why do you wish for me to play this game so badly?"

"C'mon, Ether, it'll be fun!"

"You have said this about many games that were not fun at all."

"I'll let you play more Starcraft."

"…Open the game."

*END FLASHBACK*

"Oh, right. Now I remember."

{You are going to play that accursed game as soon as we finish modifying that room!}

* * *

I grinned as I opened up the back panel for the Control Consul. "You sure that you can show me how you're doing this?" I asked Ether as she lowered herself to look inside.

"Absolutely!" the ultralink replied as she began working. She simply moved a few wires before moving to the back and sending an electrical charge into the machine.

"And what's that supposed to do?" I asked, confused.

"The electrical current that I form when I send a charge into a machine allows me to interfere with said machine's programming," Ether explained. "I am merely 'tweaking' the programming to allow the use of the compact disk drive that is currently attached to the dell computer tower that is currently hooked up to this."

Something echoed down the hallway.

"Did you hear something?" I asked.

The ultralink sighed. "Cease interrupting me or I may accidentally fry the entire array of wires!"

I shrugged, then closed the door leading into the Simulation Room. If Ether didn't want to be disturbed, it would probably be a good idea to keep others out.

* * *

The floor vibrated under my feet. "Ether, I think something's going on out there."

"They will be able to handle it," Ether replied from her place inside the Control Consul. She had gone farther in to get a closer look.

"Are you almost done?"

There was a sizzle, followed by a painful-sounding zap. "I may be a few more minutes."

* * *

The sound of several walls breaking made me jump. "They seriously need us out there."

"They are fine!" Another zap, this one sounding much longer, went off.

"Are you okay in there?"

"Never better! Now be silent!"

* * *

"What are you two doing?"

My entire body twitched, causing my head to smack against the wall behind me. I rubbed my helmeted head, as I replied to…Berto, I confirmed by turning my head. "Apparently I was taking a nap."

"I, on the other hand," Ether proclaimed, "have finished modifying the Simulation Room's Control Consul to allow us to play various games! And it just so happens that I was able to download Five Nights at Freddy's onto a USB –" she pulled out said USB from who-knows-where, "– so that you would be able to experience the joy of playing it first-hand."

I banged my head against the wall. "I've created a monster."

* * *

 **I looked up the #1 cause of death during war. It's not lack of communication. Currently, the #1 spot is held by suicide. Go figure.**

 _ **This is what happens when CB is allowed to guess on facts.**_


End file.
